Howe mayor rejects proposed censure, cites public records and questions contract process

Mayor Carla McDonald defended herself at a special Howe City Council meeting on Sept. 5, saying the public deserves answers before any formal discipline. "The application also lists his expected salary as $170,000," McDonald said, describing what she called an approximately 30% discrepancy between Monty Walker’s application and the salary he was receiving in Howe on June 15, 2026.

McDonald said she obtained an unsolicited copy of Walker’s application from another municipality and filed a Public Information Act request to verify the document. She said she submitted the request to confirm the application’s accuracy and not to conceal its source. "I submitted the request to independently verify authenticity, completeness, accuracy," she said. She asked that appropriate authorities verify the records so they could be compared with the City of Howe’s official files.

The mayor also described concerns about how Walker’s employment contract was prepared and approved. McDonald said the contract initially came from Walker and was later edited by the city attorney. She said Walker remained present during executive-session discussions of his contract and argued those circumstances raised at least an appearance of a conflict of interest in negotiation and approval. McDonald cited Texas Local Government Code §22.042 to describe the mayor’s statutory duties and framed her record requests as part of her oversight responsibilities.

McDonald repeatedly urged the council to base any accountability on verifiable facts rather than assumptions or social-media posts. She said disciplinary action or formal censure should follow a process that provides specific facts and a meaningful opportunity to respond. The council proceeded to take up several personnel-related actions later in the meeting.